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Civic Service Law, 5777-2017

חוק שירות אזרחי, תשע"ז-2017

Published: 2017-04-05Consolidated Hebrew text as of 2025-08-06 · Last amended 2025-08-05✓ Amendment status checked against the Knesset legislation record on 2026-09-17
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Unofficial English translation — for reference only. It may contain errors or omissions and cannot be relied on as a legal text. Only the Hebrew text published in Reshumot is legally binding.More

This English text was translated from the official Hebrew using a range of translation tools, and it undergoes ongoing checks and updates. It is not a certified translation.

Despite these checks, it may contain errors, omissions, or imprecise renderings of legal terminology and cross-references, and it may not yet reflect the latest amendments. It cannot be relied upon as a legal text.

The Hebrew text as published in Reshumot (ספר החוקים) and on the Knesset website is the sole authoritative and legally binding version. In any discrepancy, the Hebrew text prevails.

This translation is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. For use in legal proceedings, request a certified Expert Legal Opinion.

Chapter I: Purpose

Purpose§

1.

This Law is intended to regulate the framework and conditions for the performance of voluntary service on behalf of the State, by a person who under law does not serve in regular service, which shall be of public benefit to the community, to society and to the State.

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Chapter II: Interpretation

Definitions§

2.

In this Law –

"Area" – as defined in the Emergency Regulations (Judaea and Samaria – Jurisdiction in Offences and Legal Assistance), 5727-1967, as their validity has been extended and their text amended by law, from time to time;

"recognised body" – a body that the Minister has recognised for the purpose of locating, referring and accompanying volunteers, pursuant to the provisions of section 48;

"operating body" – a body that has received approval from the Director for the purpose of operating volunteers pursuant to the provisions of Chapter VII, including as applied by section 19(b)(1);

"service apartment" – a place of residence lawfully held by a recognised body or an operating body, and used for the residence of volunteers;

"arrears" and "shekel interest" – as defined in the Interest and Linkage Law;

"the Committee" – the Labour, Welfare and Health Committee of the Knesset;

"National Insurance Law" – the National Insurance Law [Consolidated Version], 5755-1995;

"Budget Foundations Law" – the Budget Foundations Law, 5745-1985;

"Interest and Linkage Law" – the Interest and Linkage Law, 5721-1961;

"National Civic Service Law" – the National Civic Service Law, 5774-2014;

"annual budget law" – as its meaning in the Budget Foundations Law;

"the national institutions" – each of the following:

(1)the Jewish Agency for the Land of Israel;
(2)the World Zionist Organisation;
(3)Keren Hayesod – United Israel Appeal;
(4)Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael;

"the Council" – the Public Advisory Council appointed pursuant to section 34;

"the Director" – the Director General of the Authority appointed pursuant to section 22;

"inspector" – a person authorised pursuant to section 29;

"the Ministry" – the government ministry within whose area of responsibility the Authority falls;

"volunteer" – a person who serves in national service or in community volunteering pursuant to this Law;

"at-risk youth" – young persons who have been recognised as being in situations of risk by the Division for the Education of At-Risk Children and Youth in the Ministry of Education or by the Youth Service for Young Women and Men in the Ministry of Labour, Welfare and Social Services;

"family member", of a person – spouse, parent, grandparent, son or daughter and their spouses, brother or sister and their children, brother-in-law, sister-in-law, uncle or aunt, father-in-law, mother-in-law, father-in-law (husband's father), mother-in-law (husband's mother), son-in-law, daughter-in-law, grandson or granddaughter, including step-relatives and also any person who is dependent on that person's table; for the purpose of this definition, "spouse" – including a person publicly known as such;

"the Authority" – the Civic Service Authority established pursuant to section 21;

"public authority" – each of the following:

(1)the Government and government ministries, including their units and their auxiliary units, and excluding the Israel Defence Forces;
(2)the Office of the President of the State;
(3)the Knesset;
(4)courts, tribunals, execution offices, and other bodies possessing judicial authority under law;
(5)a local authority;
(6)the National Insurance Institute;
(7)a corporation established by law whose activity falls within one of the fields listed in section 65(a)(1);

"civic service" – each of the following:

(1)national service;
(2)community volunteering;
(3)national civic service;

"national civic service" – as defined in the National Civic Service Law;

"national service", "community volunteering" – service on behalf of the State, other than national civic service, performed on a voluntary basis pursuant to the provisions of this Law;

"regular service" – as defined in the Defence Service Law [Consolidated Version], 5746-1986;

"the tariff" – the volunteer operating tariff, set pursuant to section 10;

"the Minister" – the Prime Minister or another Minister whom the Government has authorised to be responsible for the implementation of this Law.

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Chapter III: Principles of National Service and Community Volunteering

Section A: General Principles

Target Population§
3.
(a)Only a person in whom all the conditions set out below are fulfilled may serve in national service or in community volunteering, all subject to the service opportunities available, taking into account, inter alia, vacant service positions and suitability for service roles, and also subject to the budget framework allocated for this purpose in the annual budget law:
(1)the person is an Israeli citizen or holds a permanent residency permit under the Entry into Israel Law, 5712-1952 (in this section – permanent resident);
(2)the person is exempt from the obligation of regular service, or the Israel Defence Forces has confirmed in writing to the Authority that the person has not been called up for regular service and is not expected to be called up for such service;
(3)the person has reached the age of 18 and has not yet reached the age of 24, and in respect of a person who is a person with a mental health condition as defined in the Community Rehabilitation of Persons with Mental Disabilities Law, 5760-2000, or a person who studied in a special education institution as defined in the Special Education Law, 5748-1988 – has not yet reached the age of 27;
(4)the person has requested to serve in national service or in community volunteering.
(b)Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (a)(1), the Minister, in consultation with the Minister of the Interior and with the approval of the Committee, may prescribe conditions and circumstances under which a person who is neither an Israeli citizen nor a permanent resident may also serve in national service or in community volunteering pursuant to this Law, subject to the service opportunities available and the budget framework as referred to in subsection (a), and also subject to the submission of a request as referred to in paragraph (4) of that subsection.
(c)
(1)Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (a)(3), a person who has reached the age of 17 and has not yet reached the age of 18 may serve in national service or in community volunteering pursuant to this Law, if that person's parents or guardian, as the case may be, have given their written consent thereto, subject to the service opportunities available and the budget framework as referred to in subsection (a), and also subject to the submission of a request as referred to in paragraph (4) of that subsection;
(2)for the purpose of parental consent as referred to in paragraph (1), the consent of one parent shall suffice if there is a substantial difficulty in maintaining contact with the other parent in order to ascertain that parent's position;
(3)national service or community volunteering pursuant to this subsection shall not be regarded as employment under the Youth Labour Law, 5713-1953;
(4)the Minister, with the agreement of the Minister of Education and with the approval of the Committee, may prescribe provisions in respect of service as referred to in this subsection, including in respect of admission to such service, having regard, inter alia, to the provisions of the Compulsory Education Law, 5709-1949.
Framework and Character of Service§
4.
(a)National service and community volunteering shall be performed on a voluntary basis.
(b)National service and community volunteering shall be performed within the framework of an operating body only, with the consent of the volunteer and the operating body and pursuant to a referral by a recognised body; however, in exceptional cases the Authority may approve the operation of a volunteer within a recognised body, for a period not exceeding 30 days, for the purpose of completing the volunteer's period of service.
Place of Service§
5.

National service and community volunteering shall be performed in Israel or in the Area.

Provisions regarding the Performance of Service§
6.
(a)National service and community volunteering shall be performed at an operating body that is a public authority in roles as referred to in section 64, and at an operating body that is not a public authority – in the occupations, fields and types of activities as referred to in section 65(a).
(b)
(1)An operating body shall not place a volunteer in the role of an employee or as a substitute for an employee, and a recognised body shall not refer a volunteer to serve in a role or as a substitute, as aforesaid;
(2)a volunteer shall not replace or fill the role of employees of the operating body;
(3)a volunteer shall assist employees of the operating body in the performance of their roles;
(4)nothing in the provisions of this subsection shall prevent an operating body from assigning to a volunteer tasks that are generally assigned to its employees, for a specific purpose and solely for the purpose of assisting the employees in the performance of their roles;
(5)for the purpose of this subsection, a volunteer is presumed to be replacing or filling the role of an employee if any of the following applies, unless the operating body proves otherwise:
(a)within the two years preceding the date on which a volunteer was first placed at the operating body, whether pursuant to this Law or prior to the commencement date of this Law, an employee was employed in the role performed by the volunteer, or in an identical or equivalent role;
(b)a post exists for an employee in the same role performed by the volunteer, or such a post existed in the five years preceding the date on which a volunteer was first placed at the operating body as referred to in sub-paragraph (a), even if the post is not filled.
(c)National service and community volunteering shall not include cleaning tasks, except for work in public areas for the purpose of maintaining environmental quality carried out in the course of another activity in the service; nothing in this provision shall prevent the integration of volunteers in a duty roster in which employees of the operating body also participate.
(d)A volunteer shall comply with the instructions of the operating body and the instructions of the recognised body and the Authority throughout the entire period of service, in all matters connected with the performance of the service.
(e)A volunteer shall not, in the framework of the service, participate in election campaigns or in activities of a political-party character.
(f)
(1)The Minister may prescribe additional conditions and restrictions in respect of the roles to be performed by volunteers;
(2)the Minister, with the approval of the Committee, may prescribe additional roles in which national service or community volunteering shall not be performed.
Period and Scope of Service§
7.
(a)The period of service of a volunteer shall not be less than 12 months and shall not exceed 24 months.
(b)A person requesting to volunteer shall undertake to serve for a consecutive period of not less than 12 months; for this purpose, continuity of service shall be regarded as maintained even if an interruption has occurred for the periods set out below, provided that such interruptions shall not be counted as part of the period of service, unless otherwise prescribed pursuant to this Law:
(1)an interruption for a period not exceeding one month;
(2)an interruption exceeding one month but not exceeding two months, if the Director or a senior employee of the Authority authorised by the Director has approved this in special cases;
(3)an interruption for a period exceeding two months, if the Director or a senior employee of the Authority authorised by the Director has approved this in special cases, in respect of a volunteer who is a person with a disability or an at-risk youth.
(4)during a period in which a decision on an emergency as referred to in section 20 is in force – an interruption for a period not exceeding 12 months, if the Director has approved this in cases in which the interruption is required due to the special circumstances connected with the emergency.
(b1)Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (b), if a volunteer completed, before the commencement of service at the operating body, service training as defined in section 13(a) or special training as referred to in section 14, other than special training excluded from the period of service as referred to in section 14(b), the period between the completion of such training and the commencement of service at the operating body shall not be regarded as interrupting the continuity of service, provided that such interruption shall not be counted as part of the period of service.
(c)A volunteer shall serve an average of 40 hours per week during the period of service, subject to the provisions of the First Schedule, however the Minister may prescribe provisions in respect of –
(1)a minimum and maximum number of service hours per day and a minimum and maximum number of service hours per week;
(2)conditions under which the Director shall be empowered to approve a quota of increased average daily or weekly service hours, taking into account the requirements of the role, the operating body and the welfare of the volunteer; Regulations pursuant to this paragraph shall be prescribed in consultation with the Minister of Labour, Welfare and Social Services;
(3)breaks within daily service hours, according to types of volunteers, types of operating bodies or places of volunteering.
(d)Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (c), the Director or a senior employee of the Authority authorised by the Director may approve a quota of reduced average daily or weekly service hours, taking into account the special needs of the volunteer or the hours framework of the operating body, provided that the quota shall not be less than 30 hours per week.
(e)Nothing in the provisions of this section shall oblige a volunteer to perform national service or community volunteering, however a volunteer who has not met the conditions in respect of the period and scope of service shall not have completed national service or community volunteering, as the case may be.
Conditions of Service of Volunteers§
8.
(a)No employment relations shall apply between a volunteer and the operating body, a public authority financing posts pursuant to section 71, the recognised body or the Authority.
(b)A volunteer is entitled to the conditions of service set out in the First Schedule; a term in an agreement that departs from the conditions of service set out in the First Schedule shall have no effect.
(c)Without derogating from the provisions of this section, the Director may direct the circumstances in which volunteers shall be entitled to be absent from service, and may also permit a volunteer to be absent from service in a special case that justifies it.
(d)An operating body may apply additional provisions in respect of the conditions of service of a volunteer, provided that they do not derogate from the rights of volunteers as referred to in section 9 or from the provisions of the engagement agreement with the volunteer as referred to in section 58.
Rights of Volunteers§
9.
(a)A volunteer shall not receive remuneration for the service, however the volunteer shall be entitled to receive from the recognised body during the period of service –
(1)pocket money for the payment of personal expenses and reimbursement of additional expenses, as prescribed in the tariff, for each month of the period of service – by the 10th of the month following the month in respect of which they are paid; pocket money for the payment of personal expenses shall not exceed the subsistence allowance of a soldier in regular service;
(2)funding of travel expenses by public transport from the volunteer's place of residence to the place of service and back, as prescribed in the tariff, provided that the volunteer is not exempt from such expenses (in this Law – travel expenses) – by the 10th of the month following the month in respect of which they are paid;
(3)accommodation in a service apartment throughout the entire period of service – if the conditions prescribed by the Minister, with the approval of the Committee, for volunteers' entitlement to accommodation are fulfilled in respect of the volunteer; a recognised body shall not make use of a service apartment in its possession except for the purpose of housing volunteers.
(b)A recognised body shall pay national insurance contributions on behalf of a volunteer pursuant to Chapter XV of the National Insurance Law and health insurance contributions pursuant to section 14 of the National Health Insurance Law, 5754-1994, except in respect of a volunteer in relation to whom the National Insurance Institute has given notice that there is no liability for insurance contributions as aforesaid, for the period during which there is no such liability.
(c)A term that derogates from the provisions of this section shall have no effect.
Determination of Tariff§
10.
(a)The Minister, with the agreement of the Minister of Finance and with the approval of the Committee, shall prescribe the tariff according to which an operating body shall pay a recognised body for the operation of a volunteer, the components of the tariff and the amounts of the components as aforesaid, and may prescribe as aforesaid different tariffs taking into account the characteristics of the operating body or the volunteer, the place of performance of the service and the conditions of service, including the need for support services and ancillary assistance for certain types of volunteers.
(b)The components of the tariff and their amounts prescribed pursuant to subsection (a) shall be updated at the times and in accordance with the indices to be prescribed in the Regulations as referred to in that subsection, or in another manner to be prescribed in those Regulations; the Director shall publish in Reshumot (Official Gazette) and on the Authority's website a notice regarding the updated amounts.
Protection against Transfer, Charge or Attachment§
11.
(a)Payments to which a volunteer is entitled under the tariff, as well as payments made by the Ministry of Aliyah and Integration to a volunteer who is a new immigrant pursuant to that Ministry's procedures, may not be transferred, charged (security interest) or attached in any manner whatsoever, except for the purpose of paying maintenance owing by the person entitled to the payments pursuant to a judgment of a court or a competent tribunal.
(b)The provisions of subsection (a) shall also apply to payments as aforesaid that were made through a bank or the subsidiary company, as defined in the Postal Law, 5746-1986, in its provision of services pursuant to section 88a of that Law, for a period of 30 days from the date on which they were paid.
(c)Nothing in the provisions of subsection (a) shall derogate from the right of a recognised body or the Ministry of Aliyah and Integration, as the case may be, to set off, from payments as referred to in that subsection, an amount owed to it by the volunteer, pursuant to rules to be prescribed by the Minister; rules in respect of payments by the Ministry of Aliyah and Integration shall be prescribed after consultation with the Minister of Aliyah and Integration.
(d)The Minister may prescribe that the provisions of this section shall also apply to subsistence payments made to a volunteer by a government ministry not listed in subsection (a); such Regulations shall be prescribed after consultation with the Minister responsible for the ministry concerned and with the approval of the Committee.
Restrictions on Employment and Studies during Service§
12.
(a)A volunteer shall not be employed as an employee and shall not engage in a business or occupation, unless the Minister, with the approval of the Committee, has prescribed provisions permitting the volunteer to do so, in the circumstances and cases to be prescribed.
(b)The Minister, with the approval of the Committee, may prescribe restrictions on regular studies by a volunteer at an educational institution or at an institution of higher education or training.
(c)Notwithstanding the provisions of subsections (a) and (b), and without derogating from the provisions of sections 13 and 14, an operating body shall not serve, directly or indirectly, as a place of employment for a person volunteering with it, nor shall it serve as a place of study for a person volunteering with it, unless the Director has permitted such studies and subject to the conditions permitted; the provisions of this subsection shall also apply in respect of a body or person connected to an operating body as aforesaid.
(d)In this section –

"institution of higher education or training" – an institution as defined in the Student Rights Law, 5767-2007;

"educational institution" – an educational institution as defined in the Compulsory Education Law, 5709-1949, and a vocational school as defined in the Apprenticeship Law, 5713-1953.

Service Training§
13.
(a)A volunteer shall undergo appropriate training for national service or community volunteering pursuant to the provisions of this section (hereinafter – service training); responsibility for providing the service training shall lie with the recognised body.
(b)The Director shall direct the service training programmes, in the fields to be prescribed by the Minister, and may direct different training programmes for different types of volunteers and also direct the times at which the training programmes as aforesaid shall take place during the period of service.
(c)The training period for service shall be regarded as part of the period of service.
(d)The Minister may prescribe provisions and conditions in respect of service training, including provisions regarding the education, professional training, experience and criminal record of those engaged in providing the training, and also provisions in respect of the facilities, classrooms and equipment required for providing the training.
Special Training§
14.
(a)An operating body that operates a volunteer in roles requiring special training is responsible for ensuring that the volunteer undergoes the said training, in addition to the service training pursuant to section 13.
(b)The period of special training as referred to in subsection (a) shall be regarded as part of the period of service, unless the Director has otherwise directed in respect of exceptional training or types of training, taking into account, inter alia, the duration of the training, its conditions and the certificate awarded upon its completion.
Vocational Training and Studies for the Completion of Education§
14a.
(a)Without derogating from provisions pursuant to section 12(b), the Director may prescribe rules that would enable a volunteer belonging to a population in respect of which the Director is satisfied, after consultation with the Director General of the Ministry of Labour, that assistance is required in its integration into the labour market, or a volunteer in the second year of service, to participate, at the expense of service hours as referred to in section 7(c) or (d), in vocational training intended to promote the volunteer's professional integration into employment after the period of service, or in studies for the completion of education, even if these are not in the volunteer's field of service; the rules shall address, inter alia, the content of the training or studies, their duration and the institutions in which they shall take place.
(b)Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (a), rules in respect of the contents of vocational training programmes, their duration and the institutions in which they shall be held shall be prescribed with the agreement of the Director General of the Ministry of Labour or that person's representative.
(c)Rules as referred to in this section shall be published in Reshumot (Official Gazette) and on the Authority's website.
Certificate of Completion of Service and Provision of Information regarding Rights upon Completion thereof§
15.
(a)Where the Director has found, after receiving a report from the recognised body, that a volunteer has completed the period of national service or community volunteering in accordance with the provisions of section 7 and has met all the conditions of service –
(1)the Director, or a person authorised by the Director for that purpose, shall issue the volunteer a certificate attesting that the volunteer has completed service as aforesaid and stating the duration of the service served; a volunteer is entitled to request that the certificate indicate that the volunteer served in national service or in community volunteering, at the volunteer's choice;
(2)the Authority shall notify the volunteer of the rights to which the volunteer is entitled upon completion of service.
(b)The Authority shall publish on its website the rights to which a volunteer who has completed national service or community volunteering is entitled.

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